Love takes time
by Haters-will-hate19
Summary: Harry is orphaned at age ten and is taken to Wool's orphanage. There he meets the young Tom Riddle and befriends him. A year later Dumbledore comes to tell Tom about him being a wizard. Harry and Tom then go to Hogwarts. But what will happen to them? Will they stay friends? Or will they slowly fall for each other? Tomarry


**This takes place in Tom Riddle's time**

**Key:**

*Parseltongue*

'Thoughts'

^German^

* * *

It was another long day at Wool's Orphanage. Tom was out in the garden picking the vegetables that they succeeded in growing that year. Nothing was out of the ordinary as far as he was concerned. But he was proven wrong in the next five minutes. He looked up when he heard a car pull into the drive. It was a police car. Now Tom was not dumb. He knew something was up. He may only be ten years old at this time but that is not the point. He watches as a cop gets out and goes to open the back door.

Instead of sticking around and being nosy he decides to grab his basket and go into the kitchen. From there he washes the vegetables and puts them away so they do not go bad. All the while he was listening for sounds to see why the cop was here. All he succeeded in listening to was the shuffling of feet, the scrapping of chairs and a slight wimper.

'Wait.' Tom pauses. 'A whimper?'

Tom sets down the vegetables and walks out of the kitchen running into a little girl. "Tom where are you going?" She asks.

"I need to check on something. Will you please put away the vegetables for me, Little Marry?" The girl nods. "Thank you."

Tom walks to the office of Mrs Coal and looks around. He notices a few things out of place and then notices a jacket laying on the chair next to the office. When he looks even closer at it he sees a pare of emerald green eyes. His face shows a sad smile at the boy and he walks closer to him to see if he can talk to the little boy. The only mistake he makes is stepping on a creaky floor board.

The boys eyes widen and he shoots up out of the chair and is suddenly in the corner. Tom is stunned for a slight second before he mentally berates himself for his stupidity.

"It's okay." Tom says in a soft voice, as to not startle the poor boy even further. "I am not going to hurt you. I just want to know if you are alright."

^P-Please don't come closer. I-I don't know where I am.^

Tom is slightly stunned when he heard the boy speak for the first time. The boy spoke in a language he did not understand. 'What language is that?' Tom asks himself. It only takes him a second to realize what it is. 'German.'

"Do you speak English? I don't understand German." Tom says softly.

"W-who are you?" The boy asks Tom.

Tom only lets out a small smile. "My name is Tom and I am a resident of Wool's Orphanage. I always have been. I have been here since the day I was born. What is your name?"

"M-My name is Harry. But my mother always called me little nebride." The little boy stutters out.

"How about you come here little nebride. You look like you must be awfully cold." Tom says.

Harry launches himself into Tom's arms snuggling into the warmth that was Tom. Unintentionally Harry takes a whiff of Tom and gets a pleasant smell. To Harry Tom smells like Lavender and Mangoes with a hint of sawdust. Tom's arms wrap around him and holds him there, bringing the stability Harry needed at that time.

Tom looks at the small form in his arms and sighs. He has a feeling this child in his arms is a lot older than he looks. Tom also takes a smell and is surprised with the smell that the boy is covered in. Harry smells like the ocean, Cherry blossoms, and the musty smell of old books. Tom starts running a hand through Harry's hair to calm the boy even further and is surprised when he touches the soft and wavy locks. He smiles as Harry relaxes into him and falls asleep. Not that Tom can blame the poor boy. He must have gone through so much to be here now. But Tom will protect him from everything. He will make sure of it.

...

"Wake up! Wake up you little brats!" Mrs Coal shouts from downstairs and pounds on the wall. Harry looks up from his book to look at his roommate. And sure enough Tom is still sleeping soundly, not even seemingly hearing the old woman's cries for everyone to be up. Harry watches Tom for a bit before he decides to wake him up.

Harry has been in Tom's room ever since he got here, six months ago. It had been at the end of October then and now it was April and very rainy out. By now Harry has gotten somewhat used to Tom's antics. Every morning Mrs Coal would shout at them to get up. Tom would show no signs of waking. And then Mrs Coal would shout again and Harry would go and wake Tom up when he still wouldn't get up.

"Tom!" Harry shouts in a whisper shaking Tom lightly. "You have to get up! Mrs Coal is wanting us all to get up!" Tom still did not show any signs of waking. "If you do not get up I will pull the covers off your bed and throw you onto the floor!" Harry warns. Tom still did not wake up so Harry did just that. Tom landed on the floor with a thump and immediately he was up and looking around trying to find what happened. Harry only smirks at him and Tom gets to his feet.

"Oh thank you for that nice wake up call." Tom grumbles sarcastically.

"Your welcome dear." Harry says smiling. "Now shall we go see what the old hag wants at..." Harry looks at the clock. "6:15 this fine morning?"

"Might as well dear. We have nothing better to do." Tom says holding out his arm. "Walk downstairs with me?"

Harry links his arm with Tom's. "I would love to my dear."

The two boys laugh at each other and walk downstairs to see what the old hag could want now.

...

"Harry!" A girl shouts in the sleeping boy's ear.

Harry groans as he sits up. "What do you want Martha?"

"Tom wants to see you out in the garden. And Mrs Coal wanted me to warn you that if anything strange happens you two are not going to be having meals for three days." Martha says and then scurries away.

Harry jumps to his feet and gets dressed. He grabs his snake pendant that Tom gave him for his 'birthday'. Tom has never asked about his birthday and Harry really didn't expect him to. They had only known each other for nine months.

Harry races down the stairs almost running into Amy. "Sorry Amy! Tom wanted to see me and I guess I was in a rush. I didn't see you there."

Amy just smiles at him. "It is fine Harry. Happy Birthday by the way. Mrs Coal was telling people that it was your birthday this morning."

Harry only stares at her for a few seconds before tearing off to find Tom. He finally finds Tom sitting on the bench and Harry sits next to him.

"Martha said you wanted to see me?" Harry asks a little out of breath.

Tom only smiles and shakes his head at his friend's antics. "Yes I did. I wanted to show you something. Come with me." Harry stands up after Tom and they both walk through the bush Tom talking to Harry along the way. "I don't want you scare you. Heck you are the only one in the orphanage that I have not scared yet. But I want you to know something about me. Something that scares other people and then they don't want to be near me anymore."

Harry just nods before he starts talking as well. "I will stand by your side even if you do scare me. Just because someone does something that scares you doesn't mean that you have to avoid them. No matter what it is we will get through this together. Even if I have to drag you along with me. I won't abandon you Tom." Tom stares at the young man in front of him. Sometimes it baffles him that he is only seven months older than Harry. Harry just acts older than he actually is, and he also looks younger.

They walk into a clearing and Tom looks at Harry one last time. Harry only gives him an encouraging nod and Tom smiles before saying something out-loud.

*Come here my pretty.*

Tom looks at Harry nervously as they wait. Harry only lays a comforting hand on Tom's shoulder. "Who did you call here?" Harry asks.

"Y-you could understand me?" Tom asks.

"Well yeah," Harry rubs the back of his neck. "It's not the first time you have done it. You talk in your sleep all the time. And you are not the only one with the ability. I can talk to snakes too."

Tom just looks blankly at Harry and Harry giggles a bit when the snake comes out from the bushes and wraps itself around Tom. The snake is emerald green with red eyes. Tom is so flabbergasted that he doesn't even notice. The snake looks at Harry with its eyes and Harry stares right back at it. The snake hisses in its thought of the boy.

*Sso masster iss thiss who you wanted me to meet? He iss a little ssmall don't you think. He lookss like jusst a little boy but I can ssence that he is ass old ass you masster.*

Tom snaps out of his stupor only when Harry replies to the snake.

*Yess I am ssmall. That iss only becausse of the people I lived with before I came here. I am eleven. I am the ssame age ass Tom iss.*

*You are another sspeaker. I am sso delighted. I am happy to have ssomeone other to talk to than masster. No offence to him or anything but it getss dull just being only able to talk to him.*

The snake bobs its head up and down as it says this. Tom looks at the snake before taking it off him and laying it into the grass.

*You better go now Emerald. We have to go before the humanss come looking for uss. We will ssee you later.*

*Goodbye masster. Goodbye little masster.*

And Emerald is gone. The boys start walking up to the orphanage when they are stopped by Denis and Billy. "Happy birthday Harry." They both say in unison. They walk away sensing trouble brewing at the look Tom was giving Harry.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tom asks suddenly.

"You never asked." Harry replied.

...

Tom and Harry were sitting inside on this nice and warm August day in their rooms reading. They were just enjoying their books and relishing in the silence. But that silence didn't last long.

"MRS. COAL!" A voice shouts.

Harry sits up and puts his book away. "Better get up before the old hags gets on my case. I'll be right back I should put the plates in the sink."

Harry walks down the stairs and walks to the kitchen. On the way past he sees an old dude with a beard. He just shakes his head. He puts his plate in the sink and walks back up the stairs and into Tom's room. He picks his book back up and sits on the bed and starts reading again.

They stay that way until the door to the room opens. Mrs. Coal's voice comes through the room.

"Tom? You've got a visitor. This is Mr Dumberton - sorry, Dunderbore. He's come to tell you - well, I'll let him do it."

Tom and Harry look at each other before the door opens. Harry returns to his book, well... pretending to read.

The man from before comes in the room and Tom looks up.

"How do you do Tom?" the man asks.

Tom shakes the man's hand and the man looks over to Harry. Harry briefly looks at Tom and then goes back to pretend reading. The man stares at Harry for a minute before turning back to Tom. Harry closes his book and watches the two interact.

"I am Professor Dumbledore." The old man finally introduces himself.

Harry's eyes widen in surprise and Tom takes this the wrong way.

"Professor?" Tom asks. "Is that like 'doctor'? What are you here for? Did she get you in here to have a look at me and Harry?"

Harry sighs and puts his book on the side table. "Tom a Professor is a fancy word for a teacher."

"Who are you?" Tom and Dumbledore say together, Dumbledore's directed to Harry and Tom's directed to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore turns back to Tom and answers before turning back to Harry. "I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you a place at my school-your new school, if you would like to come. Now not be rude and all but who are you?"

"My name is Harry Potter and I am guessing you can tell where I came from." Harry says rolling his eyes and looks back to Tom. "Hogwarts is really the best school in the area for people like us."

"Like us?" Tom asks.

"I will take over now Mister Potter. I will do the explaining from here." Dumbledore says while eyeing the boy warily. "Hogwarts is a school for special people, who can do special things. Hogwarts is a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is a school of magic."

"Magic cannot be real." Tom says matter of factly.

Harry just sighs and shakes his head. "It is real Tom. We can do things that others cannot do. We are special. We have magic. We can make things move without touching them. We can make things grow with little to no effort. We can make animals do what we want without them being trained. And if we really wanted to we could hut people. But that is not what we would do."

Tom hands start to shake he mumbles things under his breath he is sure that they won't hear. But they both still do. "I knew I was different... I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something."

"Well, you were quite right," Dumbledore says while he smile drops. He has a bad feeling about these two. "You both are wizards."

Tom looks at Harry and Harry just gives him a small smile. Tom turns back to Dumbledore. "Are you a wizard too?"

"Yes I am."

"Prove it." Tom says at once. "Tell the truth."

"Tom! Be nice! He is telling you the truth!" Harry reprimands.

Tom looks back over at Harry. "Harry I need to see this with my own eyes! How are you sure what he is saying is true."

Harry falls silent and Dumbledore looks at him. "Tom you must understand that young Harry does not want to talk about this topic with you. His parents were a witch and a wizard. They were killed by a few evil wizards and he ended up here with you. He grew up around magic before he came here."

Tom looks strait at Harry. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't your business to know." Harry says looking away.

"Now Tom I will show you a bit of a demonstration." Dumbledore flicks his wand and the wardrobe bursts into flames. Harry just looks at the wardrobe with a raised eyebrow and looks at Tom.

"I told you to return those." Harry says in a monotone voice.

Tom gives him a sheepish look and Dumbledore says, "Open it."

Tom looks to Harry and Harry makes a shooing motion with his arms. Listening to Harry Tom opens the door and one of the boxes inside is rattling.

"Take it out." Harry mentions in his monotone voice.

Tom follows Harry instructions and takes the box. Dumbledore now steps in.

"Is there anything in that box that you ought not to have?"

"Yes, I suppose so, sir." He mumbles.

"Open it." Harry says glaring at Tom full force. Tom shrinks down a bit and opens the box.

Dumbledore looks at all the contents of the box. "You will return them to their owners with your apologies." Dumbledore said calmly. "I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned: thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts."

"Yes sir." Tom says in almost the same monotone that Harry did before.

"At Hogwarts, we teach you not only to use magic, but to control it. You have - inadvertently, I am sure - been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school. You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But you should know that Hogwarts can expel students, and the Ministry of Magic - yes, there is a Ministry - will punish lawbreakers still more severely. All new wizards must accept that in entering our world, they abide by our laws." Dumbledore pauses here. "And I can assure you that Mr Potter can tell you all about the laws of the wizarding world and could possibly help you buy your own school supplies."

Harry nods and Tom looks at him. Dumbledore nods in appreciation before starting up again. "Thank you Mr Potter. I have to take my leave now. I fear I have overstayed my welcome. Both of your letters are on the nightstand, with a ticket inside. You will need that ticket to get on the train at Kings Cross Station of the first of September. Goodbye boys. I hope to see you two very soon."

Dumbledore walks out of the room and Tom gives Harry a blank stare. Harry sighs before starting to explain this. This was going to take a while.

...

^Fuck! Why the hell does this thing have to be so heavy?^

Harry swears in German as he lugs his trunk behind him with Tom following him. Tom just smiles at his friend, not really knowing what was said but having a very good idea of what it was about.

"Are you swearing in a language I do not know again Harry?" Tom asks.

Harry gives him a sheepish look. "Maybe. Come on we have to get on the platform and get on the train."

Harry drags a protesting Tom through the wall hiding platform 9 and 3/4. Tom's jaw drops at the sight of the place. Harry just chuckles and pulls Tom along to the train. As soon as Harry puts their trunks away they both are in one of the compartments waiting for the train to start moving. With a lurch, and Tom slightly falling out of his seat which makes Harry laugh, the train starts moving and the boys start talking before they start this new adventure at Hogwarts.

...

The boys stand in the middle of the hall waiting for their names to be called. Tom is still looking at the hat in alarm for the fact that it just finished its song. Harry snorts when he sees the look on Tom's face and Tom glares at him.

The names start being called and the numbers of students to be sorted start dwindling. Tom doesn't really pay attention until a certain name is called.

"Potter, Harry!"

...

Harry sits on the stool and the hat goes over his head. The hat immediately starts talking to him and he almost jumps off of the stool.

"A Potter aye? You sure look like you are one. Now for your house... Hufflepuff is a no right off the bat. You have too much of a temper for that. Humm... you have too much self preservation to be in Gryffindor so that is out. Ravenclaw would be a good house for you, you certainly have the brains for that, and the willingness to learn. But Slytherin works as well. You are cunning and sneaky. You are the hardest person I have had to sort in a long time... which characteristics are more dominant in you... I wonder. Tell me Mr Potter, if you were to chose between endless knowledge or being able to get yourself out of any situation which would you chose?"

"Uhh..." Harry is stunned by the hat's words for a second. He has to think a little bit before smiling and telling the hat his answer. "I would chose to be able to get myself out of any situation, for if I had endless knowledge I could not learn anymore. It would be boring then. And everyone needs to know how to get out of things. The best choice and the choice I would make if I ever had to actually chose is to be able to get myself out of any situation. That is my final answer."

The hat hums a bit before talking again. "Now I know where to put you. Better be SLYTHERIN!"

...

Harry walks over to the Slytherin table and is greeted by semi-warm people. A few more names are called until, "Riddle, Tom!"

Tom walks up to the hat and places it on his head. The hat also starts talking to Tom but Tom is not as surprised by it.

"Riddle? Never heard of that one before... Ahh... Now I see. That is who you are. But I will not mention it right now because that is something you do not need to know currently. Your house... you are too cold to be a Hufflepuff. I could put you in Ravenclaw for your smarts, but you really don't like to study if you don't have too. The same is for reading most of the time. Gryffindor is out because you are more likely to flee in a dangerous situation. So what is left is Slytherin. It would work because of who you are... you also have a fair amount of cunning yourself. Better be SLYTHERIN!"

Tom walks over and sits next to Harry. They start talking and soon they have the whole table in the conversation.

...

Tom and Harry's relationship didn't really change since then. But now it was fifth year and everything that they knew about each other is about to change. And it all started one potions class...

...

Professor Slughorn was grinning like a madman on that day that everything started changing. He had a special thing planned for his fifth year class.

The Slytherins and Gryffindors filed in and sat in their normal seats. The all got out their books and waited for class to start. When Professor Slughorn finally started class the glee in his voice unnerved many of the students, both Gryffindors and Slytherins alike.

"Today class will be a practical lesson. Instead of brewing a potion we will be talking about a potion that you will be making next week." Slughorn says. He then waves his hands to the table next to him. "Can anyone tell me what this potion is?"

Harry and a few others raised their hands. Slughorn sees him first though and calls on him. "What is your answer Mister Potter?"

"The potion on your desk sir, is Amortentia. It is the most powerful love potion in the world. Amortentia can be distinguished by its mother-of-pearl sheen and the steam that rises up from it in spirals. The potion itself does not create love, for no spells or potions could actually do that, but it does create obsession. Another way to tell if it is brewed correctly or is Amortentia is by smelling it. If you smell the things you are attracted to then it is Amortentia brewed correctly." Harry says.

"Thank you Mister Potter that is correct. Now I will pass it around and you will smell it. You will tell your table partner what you smell so they can record it to be of use when you are brewing it yourselves. Since Mister Potter answered the question he and his table partner will go first. The rest of you may do homework as you wait." Slughorn walks over to the pair of Tom and Harry carrying the vial with him.

Slughorn stops in front of them. "I will have Mister Potter go first since he was the one to answer my question. Now tell us my boy what do you smell?" Slughorn passes the vial to Harry.

Harry takes a big whiff of the potion and thinks for a minute before answering. "I can smell Lavender and Mangoes. There is a hint of sawdust. And what is that other smell... oh. It is the smell of new books, freshly printed."

Tom writes it all down before switching the paper with the vial. Tom then takes his turn and takes a whiff. He freezes slightly as he realizes exactly where the familiar smells come from. He clears his throat before starting.

"I smell the ocean and Cherry blossoms. There is a hint of the musty smell of old books that have not been touched in a while. And the last smell is... a light mint smell."

Harry's eyes widen in realization and before Slughorn or even Tom could blink, nevertheless respond, he had grabbed his bag and fled out of the dungeons.

...

It took Tom almost three hours to find Harry after that. He had checked almost the whole castle by the time he remembered the fact that Harry probably ran back to their dorms. And sure enough there he was laying on his canopy bed staring at the ceiling. Tom walks over to him and sits on the bed, causing Harry to look at him. Harry just looks back up to the ceiling avoiding looking at Tom even further.

"Harry... please tell me what is wrong?" Tom asks his heart hurting for the boy laying on the bed.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what Harry?"

"Never mind. I am not going to go through with this stupid conversation if you don't even know what I am talking about."

"Harry please tell me."

"No Tom."

"Harry..."

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD TOM JUST SHUT UP!" Harry shouts. He then falls silent for a moment before continuing at an almost whisper. "I don't understand why you didn't tell me. We have been living in the same room for what now? Over six years? I don't understand how you can be so thick as to not realize what I think of you. If you can't realize it out yourself, Tom, then you should just give up. I am not going to spell it out for you like Parents do at spelling bees."

Tom just falls silent before he starts speaking again. "I know I am not the smartest block on the face of the earth. Heck I can't even figure out what you are talking about. All I know is that the Amortentia did something to change the way you acted in class. I think it must be just one of your funky moods or something. But I want to tell you something before I leave and go to lunch." Tom pauses and sighs and Harry looks at him. "Harry I have always liked you. Always. And not always the way I should. I will admit up until this year I thought it was just a friendship like or a brotherly like. But this year I realized it was more than that. I don't really want to lose you by telling this all to you and having you resent me. But it looks like it is unavoidable now. I like you Harry. Not as a friend, not as a brother, not anything else. I like you like people like their lovers. What I am trying to say, Harry, is that I think I love you."

Harry just stares at him blankly before smiling and then saying, "Good. Because I think I like you too. I think that it also might be called love."

"Are you willing to try it?" Tom asks.

"Only if you are willing to get back on this crazy wagon with me." Harry says.

"What are you talking about Harry? We never got off of it."

Harry only laughs. "I guess you are right."

Gravity seemed to change between the two as the conversation went on. They kept getting closer and closer together. And soon enough, they kissed.

...

Somehow and someway Tom and Harry kept their relationship a secret for the rest of that school year. But the same could not be said for the next year.

...

At the end of sixth year Tom and Harry got the wonderful news that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was retiring. Many people did not see the significance of this but it made Harry and Tom ecstatic.

You see the current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is Homophobic and will give anyone detentions for being close to a person of the same gender.

And for Tom and Harry she personally hated them. Somehow she just knew that the two were both gay, and not only gay but gay for each other.

So Tom and Harry did the most reasonable thing possible in a time like this. They were going to come out, on the last day of the year, in front of the homophobic professor.

Harry pulled Tom to the middle of the great hall that morning. And funny enough that teacher was going on a rant about how bad gay people are. Tom and Harry smirk at each other.

"Hey Professor!" Harry yells. All the professors look up. Harry kisses Tom.

Professor Hitler, the homophobic teacher, goes red and rushes out of the room. On the way out he says, "Get back! I think I'm going to vomit!"

Harry and Tom just laugh along with the rest of the Slytherins. Best way to end a teachers career and a school year. That is for sure.

* * *

**AN: So I would like to know what you thought of this one shot. Did you like the little meme reference at the end? If you didn't recognize the little thing at the end go to youtube and search Hey Professor - step back I'm going to vomit bleeh. Please review!**


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